Even though Roane and 89 other Tennessee counties saw slight increases in unemployment rates in November, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Burns Phillips said rates remain low across the state.

Roane County Chamber of Commerce aims to take area employers Beyond Brainstorming during the next Employers Association meeting.

Leah Graves, senior trainer of employee and organizational development at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, will discuss Beyond Brainstorming: Creative Problem-Solving during the Jan. 9 luncheon meeting on the main campus of Roane State Community College between Harriman and Rockwood.

The meeting in the ground-floor cafeteria faculty lounge of the Dunbar Building is from noon to 1 p.m.

It’s the time of year when many of us start the new year with resolutions to improve the quality of our lives.

How long does the average person keep New Year’s resolutions? Surprisingly, 75 percent of resolutions will be continued through the entire first week of January, but only 46 percent make it past six months.

In this column, we will discuss The Power of Goals, a tool we cover in the Roane Chamber’s Time Management: Strategic Concepts and Practical Time Savers workshop.

On this “Out to Lunch” adventure to Burger Station 120 in Midtown, owner Kosta Angelos told me to save room for their special Calisto dessert.

“It’s like a homemade half funnel cake, half doughnut called a crazy cake,” he explained. “The crazy cake is covered with cream cheese icing, then topped with blueberries and strawberries and decorated with whipped cream.”

I asked for a serving, with five spoons, encouraging each in our group to have a few bites.

It’s that time of the year when we get to enjoy the beautiful changing colors of the leaves in our area, and particularly in the Smoky Mountains.

My wife Carol, and I, decided to invite some long-time friends to join us for this “Out To Lunch” adventure in Gatlinburg.

Going with us on this adventure were Jimmy and Luci Bell; plus Cliff and Sue Nunley. We’ve known them for over 35 years, and readers may remember they have been included in previous “Out To Lunch” articles.